Top Things To Do In London

When it comes to traveling, i will definitely say i am a planner, where i will always have a rough idea of the things i want to see and do (i carry both a mental list and a written list, for the perfectionist that i am). And revisiting a place i been before such as a vibrant city like London, makes no exception either. Don’t get me wrong, i’m not those freaks who sticks to every single detail of a plan, and depending on my mood and the weather, i sometimes do enjoy those laid back moments where i just go with the flow, realizing the unknown is just as fun.

My trip to London back in December didn’t involve too much planning as my friend that came with me was a laid back traveler so it was perfect for me, considering how many times i have been to London. But i definitely had a mental list of things to do with my friend and i’ve decided to compile a list of top things to do in London, in case you shall ever visit this lovely city. Hope you guys enjoy these tips.

Piccadilly Circus is definitely a place to visit in London. It’s in the center of London, and you really get a feel of the buzz and hype that this metropolitan city has to offer. There are loads of shops if you are into shopping, whether its high end or low end fashion, or restaurants and cafes to visit if you ever fancy a cup of coffee or experience a proper afternoon tea, the British style.

One of the afternoon tea places that i really wanted to try was Fortnum & Mason, which i learned about from the fabulous and lovely British blogger, Milla. Although i didn’t get to try their afternoon tea, the shop itself was enough to impress me. The entire shop was filled with lovely packaging of their food and tea products everywhere, but displayed in moderation. The signature color of their products are in this lovely turquoise color, but i was also very much attracted to these purple tined Earl grey biscuits that i spotted minutes within walking in there, and of course i had to buy them. I ended up buying loads of their teas, such as the green tea flavored Elder flower tea, Earl Grey, and English breakfast. I wanted to try their macarons, being the macaron fan that i am, but i guess i was too overwhelmed by all the things inside Fortnum & Mason that i completely forgot to try some.

Ever since i spotted these alphabet mugs from other bloggers, which are available in Anthropologie, i made an immediately pit stop to their store in London. Lucky, i didn’t even have to buy it that day because my sweetest sister had already bought it for me as part of my Christmas gift, after she heard me talk about it for like ever and ever.

An afternoon tea session is a must if you visit London, a city that is well known to serve the best scones ever. I decided to pay a visit at Sketch, which i’ve not tried before yet heard good reviews of it from other British bloggers. The entrance of Sketch was very mysterious, where you are guided through this dark hall upon entering the lobby.

The interior and ambiance inside was very relaxing and with a lot of wooden and green color incorporated into its design. One of the things that really got me attention was this giant chandelier that hung in the middle of the ceiling, where it had these wooden branches look alike branching out. My friends and i ordered two sets of the afternoon tea and we did not finish it. The thing with afternoon tea is that the food are bite sizes but the fullness slowly creeps up on you. The savory and sweet dishes were both delish but up to this day, i still haven’t tried an afternoon tea place that has blown me away. One thing for sure was that their sea salt caramel and pistachio flavored macarons were yummy!

Another interesting thing about Sketch is their wash room. I know, you would think what? Upon entering the washroom, you will see these individual oval shaped toilet cubicles. The  colorful neon ceiling also gave it a very out of space feel to it, and it definitely gave it a whole new meaning and experience for washrooms.

It’s also great fun to experience London by night. The night time of the city with the beautiful lights lit up is a breath taking view for sure. Regent Street is an area that i would recommend visiting, where they always display these beautiful Christmas lights during the festive season. A night out with my girls was definitely on the list, and what better way to celebrate than going to Aqua at the Shard, and enjoying a glass of wine while admiring the night view from the 32nd floor. The Shard also claims to be the tallest building in  the EU (according to Wikipedia), which gives you  another reason to pop by this place.

For those that are more on the arty side and like some entertainment, make sure to leave a day out to watch a musical. Cheap tickets can be purchased at ticketing booths in London as well, and i often go to the one in Leicester Square, near China Town. I remember watching Phantom of the Opera in London before and it was the best musical ever. Although no other musicals have topped Phantom of the Opera on my list, i decided to give Wicked a chance, and it didn’t disappoint. The music was great, where the costumes and stage settings were gorgeous. Due to the heavy rain fall and strong winds, my friend and i decided last minute to go One Canada Square bar (located at Canary Wharf) to enjoy some wine and cocktail before we called it a night. Since Canary Wharf is a central business district, it was no surprise that the entire bar was filled with men in business suits but since it was the closes bar to our home, it was the perfect spot. I would only recommend going to this bar if you are within this area, otherwise there is nothing special about it. Although we were served by a very friendly Italian waiter so that is a bonus. Good customer service is always appreciated!

Last but no least, it’s also fun to visit museums to learn some history and better understand a place, from a different perspective. So a trip to the British Museum was arranged, and with its free admission fee and the sun shining, we headed out earlier that morning, in an attempt to make the most out of our last day in London.

If you are into markets, you should not miss out on Covent Garden. It’s a market that sells a lot of delicious food, desserts, art, clothes, and other nick nacks. I visit this market whenever i’m in London. One of my fave things to do is eating their Belgian waffles with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, as i sit in the center of the market and enjoy a bit of my people watching moment.

Photo source: all photos by me

January Love 2013

Finally managed to get a taste of my very first box of macarons from Laduree in Hong Kong, thanks to my dearest BFF who surprised me with them one night. You should had heard my “omg” shriek, hehe. Catching up with a good friend over red velvet cupcake and a mocha at Brick Lane after a very filling Shanghainese dinner. Adding some nail fun with my new American Apparel nail polishes to kick off those cold winter days. Love the golden “Meteor Shower” glitter nail polish!

Walked passed Harvey Nichols whilst taking a walk during lunch hours, and was in love with this gorgeous giant Miss Dior perfume shown on their window display. Stocked up on some crafty decorative tapes to add onto my stationary collection. Finally got my lovely and fave Chloe eau de parfum back in my perfume collection and oh my, how i have missed you sooo dearly. You will always be my fave.

Last min shopping spree and got this golden snake necklace and leopard peplum top for my company annual safari themed dinner party, where i was MC’ing away in Ms. Leopard style. Received these ever as cute flower balloons from a colleague who was leaving our company, such a sweet gesture. Celebrated a good old friend’s belated 30th birthday and enjoyed a “Fallen Angel Chocolate Bath” dessert, which was a chocolate cake with whipped cream and a shot of espresso to pour over it, super delish!

I am blessed for each and every day that was filled with love, fun, laughters, and sharing special moments with people i love and care for. You are my January Love 2013.

Dessert in the form of facials, please?

If there is one beauty trend that i have noticed expanding in Asia, and that is one not everyone will expect, it has to be the take on for beauty products in the form of food.  I know it may sound extremely odd for those that are not exposed to this concept yet and i can see why, because i felt exactly the same way when i started seeing beauty products such as sesame face masks, chocolate face scrubs, cappuccino body wash, and etc.

With that said, i was casually walking into SaSa (a very famous chained cosmetic company in Asia) one day, where i went in having no intention what so ever to buy anything. You know, how you always try to just look and leave empty handed and instantly feel ecstatic that you had the will power to not splurge.

And that’s when i came across this really cute facial set in a light pinkish box that had “Sweet Teatime Mini Set” written across it, and it was on sale.  It’s by this Taiwanese brand called “My beautiful diary” when you directly translate it from Chinese. This brand is quite popular in Hong Kong where it sells a lot of face masks in different flavors.

This  teatime facial set comes with 5 beauty products and it’s almost like each of them is a little sweet treat for my face. The facial masks comes in 2 delish flavors – chocolate truffle and an Earl Grey Tea and macaron. I am extremely excited to try the macaron face mask especially when the real macarons already taste so divine!

There is also a “Strawberry Yogurt Amino Acid” cleaner that comes in a cute pink round tube with these strawberry and ice cream imagines on it. The cleanser is in a pinkish color and while i have not tried it yet, the smell is already enough to make me drool. One thing about using these beauty products is that they normally smell so nice that you have to stop yourself from trying to eat it, lol.

The “Vanilla Souffle” face scrub also sounds really interesting and delicious. I tried sniffing the cap and it smells yummy!!! But i do wonder if all this sweetness is actually good for the skin? On the brighter side, at least we won’t have to feel guilty about gaining weight as we are not orally consuming these sweet treats, hehe.

I feel that Korea seems to be one of the biggest players in the Asian market to promote these food related beauty products. That is also why i was very excited when i received free samples from this Korean beauty/cosmetic brand, Laneige, while i was out shopping a few weeks ago.

They gave me a multiberry yogurt peeling gel and repair pack mask. Every time when i feel tired or i need to fresh up, i just use these berry sweets for a lovely evening of pampering.  To be honest, the lovely smell of the berries always makes me crave for fruits but so far i’ve not eaten the multiberry products so that’s a good thing.

So what do you think about the beauty products that comes in the form of food?

And do you have any fave food beauty products or brands?

The pink in you!

As a little girl at a very young age, i remember i always loved to dress up girlie where i would be in floral and ruffle dresses along with lace or bow shoes but most of all, i loved pink! This love interest grew even stronger after i met Barbie!

Well, time has gone a long way since then but my love for pink still remains and i’m glad to say, in a much more stylish sense compared to my early childhood years. Phewww…what a relief, i bet ya all thinking!!! lol

I know pink (especially hot pink) can seem like a very daunting and scary color to try out as it screams “look at me! look at me!”. But i really think it is down to how you dress the pink in you! The key is always to find a balance with colors and don’t go over board by dressing pink from head to toe. A big no no unless you are Lady Gaga!!! You can either pick one piece of clothing or accessory (be it bag, shoes, bangle, shades, etc) that is pink. The ways to play around with it is endless!

Here are some inspiring pink photos that caught my attention and i’ve decided to share them with you. Hopefully these lovely images will spark up some inspirations for you ladies.

And if you carefully look around you, i’m sure you will find your own pink inspiration in no time!

Photo source: we heart it

Gift Giveaway: A bit of Paris to you…

As we entered the month of March, I couldn’t help but think how fast time has flown by with summer approaching soon, and that’s when i remembered. During this month, 3 years ago, it was the birth of my lovely blog creation on March 1st, 2009, to be exact. What started out as a hobby has by far gone past that up to this day. I truly enjoy my time blogging away and it’s great to be able to share my experiences to every single one of you out there.

To celebrate such a special occasion, i thought i would do a little good blog-deed and make it extra special by doing my ever first gift giveaway!!! Since it’s to celebrate my blog’s three years anniversary, i decided to give not just one or two but three gifts away! Aren’t you all excited because i am, hehe. To keep the suspense, I will reveal the remaining 2 gifts with a final gift giveaway post soon, so make sure you come back to see what goodies awaits you.

For my first gift, I am giving away this beautiful and dreamy calender with this Parisian theme to it. The images inside are really dreamy, inspiring, and yes, Parisian!!! The lovely macaron image was enough to make me want to go back to Paris immediately.

The calender is categorized by weeks and there are no set years or dates on it, which is a great idea, as it gives you the flexibility to start whatever month or year you wish to. You can even use it next year if you have such good patience and can refrain yourself from not opening this little darling. There are also lined pages at the back of each month where you can scribble down your weekly inspirations, thoughts, or the good old “to do list”.

To enter this gift giveaway is very simple. All you need to do is follow me on WordPress and bloglovin, and leave a comment here or at the final gift giveaway post, and telling me why you should win.

Please enter by April 16 (Monday) and I will pick a winner. Don’t forget to provide an e-mail address so i can contact you if you win. And one more good news, this is open to all countries so best of luck everyone!!!

It’s my birthday!!!

Yeahhh baby!!!! It’s my birthday today and just thought i’d give a shout out to all my lovely bloggers!!! I can’t believe it’s already another year and time seems to fly past faster than ever. I remember my last birthday just as if it was yesterday and let me tell ya, it was a fab one! It was quite possibly one of the bestest ones i’ve ever experienced in my life!!!

A lot of things have happened in my life since that very special birthday of mine, good and bad but mostly bad, so lets hope for a brighter future ahead, starting from today! I’m really excited to see what’s instored for me, hehe.

Lastly, as this will be my birthday week, please excuse the lack of posting as i’ll be busy with birthday lunches, high tea, dinners, and drinks with my dearest ones. But feel free to show me some loving by simply dropping by to say a little hello and i’ll be more than happy and uber thankful.

Okay that’s a wrap up for now, let the partying begin!!!!!!!!!!!

My birthday month – Sweet September baby!!!

Yes, and so it is. It’s that time of the year again where i look forward to celebrating my birthday with close loved ones and not to mention, a marathon of birthday lunches/dinners dates! I always enjoy just sitting down with my close friends and families to catch up over nice food and drinks,  and of course with the cake surprises that awaits me,  as  my friends all know how much i loveee surprises ( i like to give back surprises too so it’s a win win situation!!!).  In fact, i love surprises to the point that my sister don’t get it and finds it lame, lol.

However, this year is not quite the same fairytale and lets just say it’s down to some personal reasons, enough said. But i’ve decided to still enjoy it and try to embrace getting another year older, wiser, and of course, prettier, hehe.

I’ve also been having some major macarons craving these days and so today i decided on a last min impulse to check out this Che Che New York place that i’ve walked past a few times, where they serve some delicate looking macarons and chocolate. In a way, it’s also a little pre-birthday luxury treat for myself, hehe. They have some really interesting and cute types of chocolate such as wafer roll, chocaron,  chocolate lollipop, chocolate bar, and praline. My favorite must be the chocaron and you are probably wonder what that is. I guess the name itself is pretty self explanatory but basically it’s a combo between chocolate and macaron, and i love the idea!!

Here is a photo of their lovely selections of chocarons at their shop.

Che Che New York Take Away Menu

I ended up buying a box of 6 macarons for HK$98 and the flavors were  blueberry, passion fruit, green tea, green apple, and fig. I’ve eaten 3 of them so far and again, they were too hard! I tried the fig and green apple and the flavor was nothing like it but nonetheless, it was still yummy,lol. To be honest, the macarons were not the best and i ‘ve definitely tried better ones.  I guess the reason why i’m having problems finding really truly delicious macarons over here is because i keep comparing it to the ones i tried in Paris at Laduree! I wonder if i will ever find a place that makes macarons over here just as good as Laduree. That would be a dream come true! But i do like how the macarons from Che Che New York are 2 colored, it’s just soo colorful and makes it that much more prettier to look it!

Apart from macarons and chocolates, Che Che New York also sells handbags and other accessories, and their products are definitely more on the cutesy side. They was founded in 2000 and have shops across Asia Pacific, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, and you can find more info about them here. I found these coin purses on their website and they are so cute that i just had to share them with you all!!!

Che Che New York Coin Purses

So tell me, have you ever tried macarons before and if so, what do you think of them?

Macarons, cupcakes, and all that good stuff…

Over the weekend, I went a little crazy and kinda had this major sugar craving. So on my way home on a Friday night, i decided to pop by the The Mira hotel where i could get my sugar fix at their cake shop COCO. I’ve not been there for a year or so, and god knows why – oh i know, there’s too many dessert shops  to choose from over here, hehe. Anyhow, i wasn’t left with much choices to begin with as they close at 8pm, and i arrived an hour before closing. After looking for what seemed hours, I decided to go for a delicately looking cheesecake by the name of Raspberry Chic but i reckon Raspberry Posh would have done the deed just as well, lol. As I’ve not had cupcake in a while, i decided to go with their Mango Velvet cupcake and plus,  i’m a big fan of the Velvet cupcakes!!!

I got home and decided to be extra nice and shared the desserts with my mom after dinner over a nice cuppa Chamomile tea. Ahhhh….i surely had a great chillaxing Friday night and it was just what i needed after a stressful week.

COCO Take Away Menu, yum…..

And you would think the sugar craving ends there, eh? Think again! Nope, i had made plans to meet my lovely girlfriend the next day for a lovely high tea at the recently reopened Ritz Carlton hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong. I went there once  last month and it was fully booked so i decided to go a bit earlier  this time and try my luck. Now you gotta understand how much i’ve been looking forward to this as it’s been the talk of town (at least i think so!) and I’ve seen their food reviews and photos, and it looked simply divine!!!! They have 2 places for you to high tea, either at the “Chocolate Library” located on the 103rd floor, or “The Lounge & Bar” located on the 102nd floor, with a spectacular view of Hong Kong.  Now if that is not enough to persuade you to check it out then i don’t know what will!!!

We arrived to the Ritz at 2pm and the high tea starts at 3pm and so I thought we did pretty well with the time. Wrong! The lady at the lobby said that the “Chocolate Library” and “The Lounge & Bar” were both full house! I was really annoyed about this, especially as it was my friend’s first time to experience high tea and it was already coming to a bad start! So what did i do? I asked the lady in my nicest voice possible on what time is ideal to arrive for high tea and guess what she replied? She said normally 1pm on week days and that on weekends, some people arrive as early as 12pm. Boy, people in Hong Kong truly will go that extra mile for food and yes, to try anything that is new in town! hahaha…i just can’t get up that early on weekends and to wait for 3 hours in advance for high tea is a bit absurd. Oh well, i will just have to squeeze one day out of my  lazy weekends to wake up extra early just for this very special occasion, lol.

Ritz Carlton Lobby Area

On the other hand, to satisfy my high tea frenzy because it just wouldn’t subside until i got a taste of those yummy macarons, i decided to try out the high tea at Lobby Lounge in Marco Polo hotel. Surprisingly, there were only 3 tables occupied and to top it off, the price was not expensive at all!!! It was HK$128 (plus 10% service charge) per person. I say that is a fairly good deal as the other high teas i’ve tried in the past usually comes down to around HK$200+ per person. Now i have to say, i was kinda disappointed with that delish looking rosey macaron because first of all, it was soo bloody hard and secondly, i didn’t know what flavor to make out of it and there was chocolate filling in the center. I’m no macaron expert by all means but i’ve tried better ones in in Paris, like at that Macaron heaven, Laduree. Oh how i miss you Laduree!!! I have to say, the cheese cake was really nice and rich, and the texture was just right! As odd as it sounds, the mini sandwiches  and pastries which sounds quite plain, were actually really yummy too. I forgot the flavor but it was some tuna, egg, escargots, cucumber, or something. The ingredients tasted really fresh and i guess that was the main reason to it being so pleasant to eat. Lastly, the scones were not a big winner for me this time, it was a bit too dry and they were a bit too petite, lol. Then again, I’m pretty sure i will come back again for it’s price and food quality.

I ended the night by meeting another good friend of mine who flew in from New York for a brief stay.  We decided to go for some yummy Italian dinner over white wine, and it was a much needed catch up time indeed!!! But gosh, that was clearly an eating marathon moment to experience and sadly, I forgot to take a photo of my delish scallop pasta in pesto sauce! Although we only managed to catch up once this time, I enjoyed it a great deal and i guess as the saying goes, its the quality not quantity, right?

So have you ladies every had a super lovely or horrible high tea experience to share? I would love to hear all about them!!!:)

Happy Friday peeps!

So it’s finally Friday and I’ve come down with a damn nasty sore throat!!! So much for “Thank god it’s Friday” eh? I actually took a day off work  todayand i guess i had some much needed sleep. Looks like i will be staying in and resting a lot over the weekend. Boooooooooo!!! Yes, sounds like a bummer weekend already.

Here are some inspiring and happy photos that i wanted to share with you all and i guess a reminder to myself to always be happy no matter what!!!:D There’s just so much going on in this busy world that we live in that we tend to forget the smallest things that matter so much more. Sometimes all we need to do is just slow down and appreciate a bit more on what this beautiful world has to offer in it’s simplest form. That’s where true happiness can be found, when you least expect it.

Anyhow, hope you guys have a happy Friday and awesome weekend ahead!!!!

Photo Source

Long weekend with Kylie Minogue and high tea’ing

This past long weekend was super chilled and fun as we only had four days of work. Yep, i love long weekends and i wish we could get more of them! Unlike America, we were not celebrating 4th of July (surprise surprise eh!).  Now not to sound too boring but let me give you a little bit of history about this public holiday that we celebrate in Hong Kong. July 1st is the special day celebrated every year over here for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day. In short form, this marks the day of July 1st, 1997 when the land of Hong Kong was returned to the People’s Republic of China from the United Kingdom, marking the end of the British rule in Hong Kong. I guess it’s kinda similar to the meaning behind Fourth of July eh?

Anyway, this is just a quick post to update you all on what i did over the long weekend. Now what better way to spend July 1st than being with the lovely Kylie Minogue!?!?!!? Yes, you read that right, lol. I went to the Kylie Minogue Aphrodite Live concert and I’m not a like a big big fan but i have to say, it was the bomb! The concert was much better than i had expected. I took some photos of the concert but please excuse the poor photo quality as i had to zooom in super close! Yeah, the seats were pretty far away but the ticket prices were already so damn expensive! 

Her live performance was awesome and her singing was fantastic!!! I don’t understand how you can sing for 2 hours without losing your voice and still manage to hit high pitched notes! It was crazy and did i mention what a great and sweet entertainer she was? She  was really friendly and sang a few classic oldies that i loved, such as “Do the Locomotion” and “I should be so lucky”!!! OMG, i literally danced my azz off! lol…i was sooo high and of course i mean the natural way, hahaha. The theme of her concert seemed to evolve around this Roman theme but i gotta say, all her outfits were soo pretty! I loved her first outfit when she opened the show, simply amazing white flowy dress and loved her hair piece! I’m not sure what they are called but they were some kinda Roman wings? You guys know the term for it? lol. The acrobatic skills that the dancers did was beyond amazing too! There were these buffed men just hanging up there in the middle of the air for like forever! Good work out i must say,lol

 

I had a more relaxed Sunday afternoon and met up with a friend for high tea at The Parlour located at Heritage 1881 , and we just talked and ate for hours. That is the one thing i like about high tea, you can just sit forever and nibble small bites along with a nice cuppa tea. I especially enjoy spreading the clotted cream and strawberry on the warm scones!!! Yum!!!! One of my favorites was the mini heart shaped Rose scented mousse cake. The sweetness was just right and i loved how the rose scent was slowly infusing into all my taste buds. Ahh…..

If you are ever in Hong Kong, I would definitely recommend this place. It’s got a relaxing ambience and nice Asian interior decor with good quality food, and i can only speak for high tea as i’ve not tried their lunch or dinner menus.  If you like, you can read the reviews and contact info for the restaurant from Time Out Hong Kong  here.  Here are some yummy photos of the high tea that i took! Bon apetit!

I also did some shopping a few days ago and i’ll post my lovely treasures with you all soon so stay tuned!!!! Hope you all are having a superb week and  i’m looking forward to the weekend already! lol